


I can’t believe that it’s finally me and you and you and me, just us (and our friends)

by RoseofWinterfell



Series: Jiara July 2020 [4]
Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: 4+1, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Insecure JJ, Jiara July, Kie discovering a kink, Sexual References, Third Wheels, apparently., but what's new, it's mainly fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:47:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25609867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseofWinterfell/pseuds/RoseofWinterfell
Summary: It had always been the four of them. Since they were 11 and on the first day of middle school, Kie, with her pudgy cheeks and hair in braids, sat down with three boys who were laughing and throwing lunch scraps at each other. There was something about them, how they played and had fun, that made her think they were infinitely more interesting than all the other groups of kids in the school yard and she decided they were going to be her best friends.She was right of course and since then, save for a brief lapse in judgment during her freshmen year the four of them have been inseparable.That’s why it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise that when Kie and JJ started dating Pope and John B had trouble adjusting to the change in the dynamic. Or more, they failed to realise that things had changed. Because while, yes, they are still friends and yes, they still want to hang out all together, they seemed to miss the part where a couple, on occasion, what to spend time alone.______Or 4 times John B and Pope interupt JJ and Kiara's alone time. And the 1 time they get to be alone.[Jiara Week 2020 - Day 5, 5+1]
Relationships: JJ Maybank/Kiara Carrera, JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks)
Series: Jiara July 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845823
Comments: 25
Kudos: 128
Collections: Jiara July Jubilee





	I can’t believe that it’s finally me and you and you and me, just us (and our friends)

**Author's Note:**

> Title derived from Me, You and Steve by Garfunkel and Oates, cause that's kinda the mood.  
> So, this didn't really turn out how I planned. For one it's alot... hornier... than I planned. Like 'alone' was never meant to be sex but like it ended up being a bit of that - no smut tho. Also, these are not the scenes I planned at all, I just kinda started writing and they took on a mind of their own.  
> Pretty much just a bunch of self indulgent scenes held together with a lose plot.  
> But anyway I hope it's still good and enjoy!

It had always been the four of them. Since they were 11 and on the first day of middle school, Kie, with her pudgy cheeks and hair in braids, sat down with three boys who were laughing and throwing lunch scraps at each other. There was something about them, how they played and had fun, that made her think they were infinitely more interesting than all the other groups of kids in the school yard and she decided they were going to be her best friends.

She was right of course and since then, save for a brief lapse in judgment during her freshmen year the four of them have been inseparable.

That’s why it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise that when Kie and JJ started dating Pope and John B had trouble adjusting to the change in the dynamic. Or more, they failed to realise that things had changed. Because while, yes, they are still friends and yes, they still want to hang out all together, they seemed to miss the part where a couple, on occasion, what to spend time alone.

_one._

Kie has barely registered the sound of feet running down the hall and John B’s voice yelling something about JJ putting his dick back in his pants, when the bedroom door is being yanked open and she’s faced with John B and Pope while in a situation she truely hoped they would never see her in.

Really, she admires JJ’s presence of mind, clearly possessing more than her in that moment. He’d managed to tug down her shirt from where he had pushed it and her bikini top above her breasts, and grabbed a pillow from beside them on the bed to cover them where she was straddling his lap, him sitting on the side of the bed, before the door opens. His quick moving helps them retain some level of modestly, no matter how small.

If she’s being fair she’d take partial responsibility for the situation, she was the one who cornered him in the kitchen of The Chateau after seeing him leave the party for another drink, and all but dragged him into Big John’s old bedroom. Although, in being fair she would also say it’s largely JJ’s fault, because evidently when she asked, _did you lock the door?_ And he had answered _yes,_ he actually meant _probably not, but I really couldn’t care less right now._

John B’s words get caught in his mouth when he see’s them, Pope who was right behind him runs into his back and is about to curse out his friend for stopping so suddenly when he sees them as well. The four of them stare at each other like deer in headlights. 

Whatever the boys had so urgently needed from JJ clearly long forgotten. From what John B had been saying they had clearly expected JJ to be here with a girl, didn’t seem to care about what they were interrupting which she thinks is a whole issue in itself that should probably be addressed some other time. What they most defiantly had not expected was for that girl to be Kie.

‘Holy fucking shit,’ Pope lets out breathlessly. 

Kie buries her face into JJ’s neck hoping that if she can’t see them she might disappear from this plane of existence into one where is is not happening. JJ, who’s being uncharacteristically quiet, brings his hand that isn’t gripping the pillow against them up to the back of her head, stoking her hair slightly in an attempt to comfort her. 

She knew they would find out eventually. You could not be in a group this close, this unbelievably codependent, and successfully keep a secret. They had done surprisingly well to get this far, a whole month of stolen kisses and sneaking around, without them catching on. 

But if someone asked her how’d she’d want them to find out about her and JJ and - and whatever it is they are doing - walking in on them would have ranked somewhere below her death. 

In fact. Spontaneous combustion didn’t sound too bad at this moment. 

She could almost hear JJ’s brain working trying to come up with some cleaver excuse to get them out of this, even over John B who seemed to have found his voice and couldn’t seem to shut up, even though his sentences weren’t quite forming. 

‘You guys are... I can’t ... Dude you ... you’ve got to be…’

If she could bring herself to talk she would yell at Pope and John be to get out, she knows there’s no way they aren’t having to explain this, but at the very least they could give them a moment of privacy for Kie to adjust her bikini from where it’s still uncomfortably bunched up on her chest, maybe put some pants on. She’s surprised JJ hasn’t told them to fuck off yet.

‘Hey guys,’ JJ breaks his silence, his voice weirdly casual, ‘we’re just hanging out.’

Kie finally pulled back and glared at JJ. _Seriously?_

‘What’s up?’

Kie threw her head back to look at the ceiling, her eyes practically falling out of her head. 

_You’ve got to be fucking kidding me._

Playing it cool. Playing it cool? That was his plan? As if somehow pretending that she was not currently straddling him, both of them completely naked save for her crop top and an old pillow covering them was going to make Pope and JB think that they were simply just chilling. 

JJ was a good liar. But not that good. _For god sakes he was still inside her._

‘Oh yeah, hanging out. Is that what we’re calling it now?’ John B asked crossing his arms and eyeing them sceptically. 

‘Damn JJ you don’t hang out with me like that.’ Pope quipped. 

‘Yeah, you’re really holding out on us J.’

JJ shuffled under her, adjusting his grip on her and pulling Kie closer to him with the arm that was holding the pillow around them. The action felt way to intimate to do while their best friends where watching.

‘Can you guys just-‘ JJ trails off and Kie find’s some relief in the fact that he seems just as uncomfortable as she does right now. 

‘How long has this been going on?’ Pope asks.

‘Um ya know,’ JJ looked at Kie silently searching for permission, ‘a while...’ he finished lamely. 

_A while_ means fours weeks and one day since she kissed him on the worn out old couch on the porch of The Chateau. They were sharing a joint and the moonlight made his eyes shine and his lips looks red and soft and so damn kissable, and she’d been just crossfaded enough to not second guess it, to not focus on every reason why it was a bad idea.

‘A while? A while?’ John B look’s confused, but that might just be his face, ‘How long is a while? You guys are…’

His hand flail in front of him gesturing at them and their current state.

‘Are you guys like… together?’

Of course Pope asks that, because as if this situation wasn’t awkward enough they had to discuss their relationship status, which they had never really discussed before. They weren’t sleeping with other people, she knew that much for sure. That had been established the weekend after they first hooked up after they’d been at the Boneyard where JJ had spent the whole night flirting with some blonde touron with a bad fake tan and extremely long legs. 

Kie had spend the whole night glaring at them.

JJ must have eventually noticed her detest because he sidled up to her asking if she wanted to leave, lips brushing against her ear. He’d teased her about being jealous later when he had his hand between her thighs, she’d denied it profusely until he threatened to stop. It was pathetic how quickly she backtracked really. 

But other than that it hadn’t really come up, other than that whole _let’s keep this between us_ conversation which they both whole heartedly agreed on, it was just they were them and they were doing this. She couldn’t deny however, that when she first kissed him it wasn’t born out of some purely sexual drunken lust but more of a deep desire that had been burning in her for a long time, or the way she gets butterflies every time he touches her. And really, doesn’t a best friend who you have sex with pretty much sum up a relationship, it does for her at least and it feels like an awful lot like what they are doing.

‘Yeah, kinda,’ Kie admits, finally breaking her silence.

‘No,’ she hears JJ say at the same time and a pit forms in her stomach.

She tries not to look so hurt when her head jerks to look back at him. JJ’s eyes go wide and his mouth starts opening and closing trying to find the right thing to say. _Jesus fucking christ_. As if this wasn’t awkward enough, now she has to deal with the fact that apparently JJ doesn’t think this is a _thing_ and he now knows that she does.

‘Kie… I - It’s just-‘ JJ stumbles over his words and trails off as she shakes her head and looks down, avoiding his gaze.

This really isn’t the time to talk about it.

Particularly when John B and Pope give into the laughs they had been trying to stifle while watching the interaction and fill the room with loud, mocking cackles. 

‘Okay- can you two just fuck off?’ JJ yells, finally snapping, he gestures to the door for a brief second before realising he let go of the pillow and it was falling away. His arms quickly came back to it and wrapped around her protectively.

‘Waoh, woah, woah. No need to yell JJ, we’re going,’ Pope says with a grin.

John B starts backing out the room and turns to Pope, ‘does he seems upset to you?’

They banter like some perfectly rehearsed comedy sketch.

‘Yeah kinda. I wonder what’s gotten into him.’

‘Not sure. I know what’s gotten into Kie though.’

‘Seriously?’ Kie glares. 

‘Come on guys’ JJ grips her tighter. It feels protective.

Their hands come up in surrender, ‘don't worry, we’re going.’

With that they finally exit the room, shutting the door behind them. A tense silence fills the room and Kie choses to stare at the wall rather than looking back to JJ. She can feel his eyes on her cheek, willing her to look at him, she really doesn’t want to.

Eventually he clears his throat, ‘well, I guess the cats out of the bag.’

Kie just nods and starts pulling away from him, his hands linger on her skin as she stands, not wanting to let go. He doesn’t move as she picks up her underwear and shorts, just stays sitting on the side of the bed and watches her silently.

She feels uncomfortable under his watch, wishes he would do something. Hell, even talking about it might be better than this weird tension. This is not how she planned this night going.

When her pants are on she turns to him, quickly adjusts her top and then starts picking at her nails, a nervous tick.

‘About what I said..’ She trails off, she doesn’t want to apologise for it.

JJ sighs, drops his gaze and then finally stands, pulling his pants up from where they’re pooled around his ankles he does. He stops right in front of her, standing chest to chest, she looks up through her eyelashes at him as he brings up a hand to lightly run his fingertips up and down over the skin of her forearm.

‘The only reason I said no is because we haven’t talked about it,’ his finger comes under her chin and tilts her head up, ‘I didn’t want to assume and freak you out.’

Warmth speeds through her body, ‘oh.’

‘So, I was thinking,’ his eyes dart, not focusing on one point, he looks nervous, ‘maybe you’d want to be my girlfriend or whatever.’

The sentiment makes her want to smile so wide her mouth hurts, instead she choses to scrunch up her face and mock him for his phrasing.

‘Or whatever?’

He laughs lightly and leans his head down to rest his forehead against hers.

‘Give me a break, I’ve never done this before.’

Letting out a small giggle she presses up on her toes slightly and joins their lips.

‘That a yes?’ JJ asks when they pull apart.

‘Only if you’ll be my boyfriend _or whatever._ ’

His lips tug to the side quickly, pressed tight to repress the bright smile she could see in his eyes.

‘Deal.’

He steps back slightly and raises his hand between them, Kie brings her hand to his and they seal it with their signature pouge handshake. It seems like kind of weird time to do it, but it’s something they’ve been doing for six years, how they always solidify agreements, and it comes naturally at this point.

After JJ’s pulled on his shirt they head to the door, when they open it there’s a flash of movement and then Pope and John B are _oh so casually_ leaning againstthe walls in the hall with innocent looks on their faces. _Of course they had been eavesdropping._

‘Oh my god,’ Kie sighs with a roll of her eyes.

She grabs onto JJ’s hand and pulls him after her down the hall and back to the party, the other boy’s are hot on their heels bombarding them with questions.

_How the hell did this happen?_

_When were you going to tell us?_

_Wait- so, the other day when we were at Rixon’s and you two disappeared to get something out of the van..?_

They don’t leave them alone for the rest of the night, asking for every little detail, then back tracking when JJ starts giving to may details. 

When the part winds down they do make it back to the bedroom, this time the door is defiantly locked.

_two._

It’s not that they don’t want to spend time with their friends now that they’re dating. In fact they are more than happy to spend their days the same way they always did, the four of them together, out on the pouge, or fishing or surfing together. That’s not _really_ the problem.

It’s more that can you really say you’re _dating_ when you don’t actually go on dates. Because they never really have time alone to do it. Okay, so it’s not like they are _never_ alone, they have most definitely commandeered Big John’s room as theirs and John B and Pope have gotten pretty good at knocking loudly and waiting at least 5 seconds whenever they enter a room.

She loves her friends, truely she does, but sometimes she just wishes they would leave them the fuck alone. They don’t seem to realise that while really her and JJ being together doesn’t change much the dynamic of the group is different. It’s not really anyone’s fault, she doesn’t think it’s fair to blame them for not realising that on occasion they are third (and forth) wheeling them, but Kie is starting to realise that if they want some quality time alone, to actually date, she’s going to have to put in a little more effort to make sure they actually get that time alone.

JJ pick’s up on the first ring, which is an uncommon occurrence for him but she figures he must have been on his phone.

‘Hey,’ his voice is low and gravely, probably with sleep, JJ loved a good nap, ‘I was just thinking about you.’

Kie leans further back into her pillows, a smile on her face.

‘Oh yeah? Why’s that?’

There’s a long pause as JJ contemplates his answer. It then that Kie registers his slightly laboured breathing and she realises…

‘Oh my god JJ,’ she scolds.

‘What? I didn’t say anything?’ He plays dumb but the chuckles that come down the line let her know that she was right.

‘It’s the middle of the day!’

‘Hey, when inspiration strikes, you gotta answer the call.’

‘So you just have no self control?’

‘Not when it comes to you.’

She hums.

‘So,’ she can hear the bed creak as he moves, ‘what are you wearing?’

His voice drops a couple octaves and she’s almost certain he’s not being serious, because he’s usually infinitely better at sounding sexy than this.

‘Yeah, we’re not doing that,’ she deadpans.

She hears him whine slightly but ignores it.

‘What are you doing later?’ She asks, getting to the point of why she called.

‘Hmmm,’ JJ contemplates, ‘you, sounds like a pretty good option.’

She ignores him again, he really has a one track mind, ‘meet me at Rixon’s in like an hour?’

‘Ohh, exhibitionism. I like your style,’ he teases.

‘Okay. I’m hanging up now.’

He laughs down the phone and hears ‘I’ll bring the condoms,’ before she hits end call.

* * *

Kie sits down on the picnic rug she laid out on the sand and self-consciously flattens out her blue sun dress over her legs, trying to get comfortable in the flowing fabric. It’s really not something she’d ever wear, her mother bought a year ago and until today still had the tags on. But she distinctly remembers JJ saying something to the boys once about sundresses being hot, not that she would ever dress simply because of someone else’s preferences, but she’s making a gesture.

‘Well this is cute.’

She turns when she hears JJ’s voice behind her. He’s got his boot’s in his hand as he walks down the sand to her.

Kie bites her lip and watches him and he dumps his shoes next to the rug and sits down beside her. She’s suddenly nervous, this really isn’t JJ’s style and she’s worried that he’s not going to like it and this was a really dumb idea.

‘I know it’s kinda lame or cheesy or whatever but…’

‘Hey,’ he cut her off placing a hand on her bare leg, ‘this is great.’

His hand traces up her leg, pushing up the material of her dress slightly, it’s a sweet movement with no unlearning intension behind it, as he leans in to place a soft kiss on her lip. He pulls away lightly and looks her up and down.

‘You look amazing by the way.’

Kie beams at him as he pecks her lips once more and then her cheek. When he pulls away he shuffles in closer, he grabs her legs and drapes them over his lap.

‘So, what have we got?’

JJ pulls over the basket while Kie grabs some soda’s out of the cooler, she wanted to bring beer but they are on a public beach and well, they are still underage. She passes one of the drinks to JJ and he hands over one of the sandwiches he found, with a smile.

They are alone for exactly 34 minutes. It’s nice - just the two of them. Just being able to talk and joke with no interruptions, to steal a kiss just because she feels like it and not having to worry about subjecting the other boys to pda.

Kie watches JJ as animatedly tells her a story, she’s picking apart a bunch of grapes and eating them in between small laughs at his story. Without warning she tosses a grape up in the air for JJ, ever keen to show off his catching skills. His attention quickly shift to the grape, her toss was a little off so he ends up falling to the sand on his back with a thud. His head moves to an awkward angle right before the fruit cleanly plops into his mouth.

JJ lets out a triumphant sound as he bites down and raises his hand in victory.

‘Now, that’s one for the hall of fame,’ Kie cheers with a laugh.

His shirt’s ridden up slightly as he fell and is flashing a small expanse of his skin above the waistband of his shorts, and Kie realises there’s nothing stopping her from tracing her fingers over it. Or from her pushing her hand up his shirt, and kissing him until his lips are red and swollen.

She’s a second away from making a move when a voice from down the beach calls out to her. She spots John B and Pope emerging from the waves, and starting to make their way towards them.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ JJ hasn’t sat up, just lifted his head enough to confirm the source of the voice. He flops his head back down to the sand dramatically.

In hindsight, coming to the beach where the all go regularly probably wasn’t the best idea, but come on, what are the chances that they were going to be there? She swears she didn’t see the van in the parking lot.

‘Can we run?’

‘JJ-‘ Kie says disapprovingly.

‘I’m serious, let’s go, pretend we didn’t see them.’

She grabs his hand and uses it to pull him up to a sitting position.

‘We’re not running from them, they’re our friends.’

‘Not if they come over here right now they’re not.’

He’s joking, mostly, she knows JJ gets as frustrated as her at their lack of time alone.

The boys make it to them, dropping their boards in the sand beside them.

‘Holy shit the surf is unreal today,’ John shakes his hair, spraying droplets of sea water over them.

She can see JJ’s jaw tense trying to stop him self from saying something he’ll probably regret, turning this into a bigger deal than it is.

‘Oh, yeah?’ It’s not much of a conversation but it’s all Kie can muster up to pretend she cares right now.

‘Did you guys bring your boards?’ Pope asks and she shakes her head.

‘Um, no… no we weren’t-‘

He doesn’t let her finish, ‘Oh shit, Kie are those your brownies?’

Pope’s eyes light up at the sight of her homemade brownies, they’ve always been his favourite. 

‘Ah.. yup..’ She trails off and he plops himself down on the rug next to them and takes a brownie, starting to eat it without question.

‘Did you bring beer?’ John B asks making is way around to the cooler.

‘Nope, I think there’s some back at The Chateau though,’ JJ says with a sharp voice and a not so subtle hint.

Predictably John B doesn’t pick up on it, ‘Nah this’ll be fine,’ he says pulling out a soda and then sitting on top of the cooler.

‘You hear about Steph Davis? She…’

Kie leans her head on JJ’s shoulder and tries not to obviously roll her eyes as John B starts telling a story which she’s almost positive is wildly inaccurate, and is completely certain is demeaning to the entire female population.

It’s not a _bad_ afternoon, it’s just not what she had planned. They end up going swimming, JJ pulls off his shirt for her to wear and she shimmy’s out of her dress from underneath it. They play shoulder wars and when they win JJ wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her, flips off John B and Pope when they protest the PDA, if they’re going to crash their date they can just put up with it.

_three._

One thing the OBX was known for was its outdoor movies, all year round they would have showings that run from the afternoon and into the night. During summer people sit around in shorts, eating ice-cream and basking in the cool sea breeze, during winter they huddle under blankets and drink hot chocolate, often spiked from a flask, to keep warm.

It was pretty much a staple of life on Kildare, and very much a staple of the pouges life. Every time Kie would drag them there, sometimes willingly, sometimes not, to enjoy the movies a do something different with their day. 

She’d be lying if she said she never thought about how nice it’d be to bring a boyfriend to one of the showings, she’d seen countless couples cuddled up together and felt a dash of envy that she couldn’t do the same. But now she has a boyfriend, and she can do it, or in theory she can do it. 

It’s a strange mix of relief and guilt when the day for the next movie night rolls around and neither Pope or John B have mentioned it. She’s relieved because maybe if they don’t know about or care enough to bring it up then her and JJ can go with feeling bad about leaving them out. Guilt because it’s all away been a pouge thing and she knows just because her and JJ are together doesn’t mean they should stop doing all the things they used to do together. She shakes the thought off quick enough, it’s not like they don’t still do everything else together.

‘What are we doing tonight?’ John B asked, jumping up to sit on the kitchen bench, taking a sip of his beer, ‘I think Beth Harris is having a party?’

Kie shrugs at John B, figuring playing dumb was the best way to get away for the night.

JJ walks over to the fridge to pull out a beer, ‘Me and Kie were gonna go to that movie thing.’

The words have left his mouth before Kie can stop him, he leans against the fridge and pops the cap off his bottle, casually taking a swig. Kie’s eyes widen and she glares at her boyfriend, he catches her eye and his brow scrunches in confusion at her.

He lowers the bottle from his lips and is about to question her when Pope pipes up.

‘Oh yeah, I forgot that was on.’

‘That’s always good, I’m in,’ John B adds.

JJ’s mouth forms a small o realising his mistake and looks to Kie, who shrugs at him and shakes her head. What were they supposed to do? Say they can’t come? _Sorry boys, I know it’s a tradition but I’ve got a boyfriend now so - peace._

So, they all go. They pack up a cooler and take a picnic rug and a couple of chairs and set up in the crowd of people in front of the big white screen and projector. Kie swears she only turns her back for a second but when she looks back John B and Pope have set up the two chairs, claiming them for themselves, in the middle of the blanket, leaving JJ sitting on one side of them another space left on their other side for her. 

She watches for a moment, mouth agape. _Are they really that oblivious?_ Kie clamps her jaw shut and shoots a questioning look to JJ who shrugs, clearly not knowing what to do either. 

Realistically she’s knows it’s not a big deal to just ask them to move over. It wouldn’t hurt them. But it doesn’t stop her from feeling guilty at the thought, because she really doesn’t want their relationship to effect what the pouges have. And a couple of months ago they wouldn’t of cared who sat next to who, and wouldn’t ask anyone to move. And she feels bad for the fact that now, it’s not that she doesn’t want to sit next to John B, it’s more that she would much rather sit next to JJ. It’s something so small, so insignificant but she really doesn’t want to point it out, make it known to the other boys that these days their presence seems a little unwelcome, and she feels so fucking guilty for that, because it’s always been the four of them, and it’s not their fault that her and JJ decided to date and it shouldn’t be their problem if they want to change things.

Kie just sighs, doesn’t say anything so she doesn’t draw attention to it but slides around the boys, past her reserved spot and sits down on the rug, settling in between JJ’s legs. JJ moves to lean back on one arm to support their weight as she falls against him, his other arm wrapping around her, his hand resting casually on her bare thigh. She feels his lips briefly brush the skin on her shoulder next to the strap of her tank top before the screen is lighting up with the first movie and he lets it capture his attention. 

It’s not too bad really, she barely notices John B and Pope’s presence, apart from their mumbled voices as they make occasional comments to one another. It’s easy enough to get wrapped up in the warmth of JJ’s body pressed up against her and the gentle touch of his fingers tracing along the skin of her thigh, she tries not to think about that part to much actually, especially once the sun goes down and the gesture seems much to private and intimate for it not to do something to her.

She’s not sure if he’s just doing it subconsciously or he’s purposely trying to get her worked up, she wouldn’t put it past him really, but one thing she’s certain of, if the boy’s weren’t here she would not be trying so hard to ignore it. Look, they wouldn’t be the first couple to partake in a light macking session at this thing - total PG stuff though, obviously. 

JJ’s thumb slightly pushes under the hem of her cut off’s and then pulls up, flicking the fabric, then continues to fiddle with it as his other fingers continue to brush back and forth. Okay, there’s no way he doesn’t realise what he’s doing right?

Kie tilts her head back to look at him, JJ still seems fixated on the screen in front of them, no mischievous twinkle in his eyes, or pulling up of the side of his lips in a repressed smirk. Maybe it was just his need to be doing something, unable to sit still. He must notice her looking because his head shifts down to look at her, he offers her a small smile and a peck on the lips before looking back ahead.

She can’t seem to do the same, instead her eyes rake over his face, his soft lips and chiseled jaw line, his hands still doing what ever the hell they are doing. Her thin veil of will power falls and then Kie is smacking a kiss to his cheek and standing.

JJ’s hand moves to her shoulder when she moves and drags over her arm as she stands, eventually loosely grasping her fingers in his as he looks up her with a questioningly look. She doesn’t say anything just grips his fingers a little tighter and jerks her head to the side, indicating for him to come with her.

It’s not like they’ve never fooled around in public before so he seems to catch on pretty quickly, but still seems like he doesn’t quite believe she’s suggesting it regardless as his brows twitch up and he looks between her and their friends a couples times before he stands as well and let’s her lead him out of the crowd.

If Pope and John B notice their exit they are gone before the boys have a chance to comment.

They end up in the mens bathroom which, yeah, Kie isn’t thrilled about either, but they needed somewhere that wouldn’t have many people and they’ll get some level of privacy and really, once JJ’s got her held up against the stall door, her shorts and underwear hanging off her ankle where it’s wrapped around his waist and he’s pounding into her relentlessly, she really couldn’t care less where they are.

Kie bites down on her lips to try and repress any sounds that threaten to fall from her lips, trying her best to not alert anyone who may enter the bathroom to what’s happening inside the cubicle even though it's essentially a wasted effort. She knows the rattling of the door, the slick sounds of thrusts and JJ’s heavy breaths are more than enough to tell a pretty detailed story.

She can feel her muscles beginning to tense about a second before Pope’s voice breaks through her veil of bliss.

‘See, I told you they’d be in here.’

The both of them instantly freeze, apart from Kie’s hand that quickly snapping away from where she had been gripping the top of the stall door for leverage to meet her other one around JJ’s neck.

‘You dirty little fuckers,’ John B yells, with barely contained glee.

Kie looks at JJ with a tense jaw, _what the fuck?_ She mouths, because what the fuck. This is too far, this is not accidentally walking in on them, or not realising they are crashing a date. They had actively sought them out knowing damn well what they were doing. Did the boys not see the problem with that? How fucked that was? Had they never heard of boundaries? 

She’s pissed, pretty much feeling the exact opposite to how she was a minute ago. JJ adjust his grip on her, letting him to use one arm to hold her up as he brings his other hand to push her hair away from her face and ran it down her cheek, she’s assuming in some effort to try and clam her down. 

‘I can’t believe you two are actually fucking in here,’ John B continues.

‘Guys, this is nasty,’ Pope chimes in.

‘Like can you not control yourselves?’

‘Do you not realise the amount of germs that are in here?’

JJ and Kie just stare at one another, biting their tongues, John B and Pope must get sick of the lack of responses because suddenly they are at the door, banging and shaking it, with a few whoops and hollers and laughs.

At the JJ snaps, his fist coming up bang hard against the door and yells, ‘okay, fuck off!’

His voice is low and rumbling, Kie can feel the vibrations of his voice against her, that and the tension in his jaw and the anger in his eyes send a jolt though her, causing her to clench around him without any warning. _Interesting_. 

There’s a chorus of giggles on the other side of the door but at least they seem to back off a bit.

‘Fine, fine. We’ll let you get back to it, you filthy animals.’

‘John B, I swear to god I will beat you bloody,’ _why does the thought of that turn her on so much?_ ‘Get. Out.’

There’s a collection of muttered words, and laughs before she hears feet retreating back outside. JJ looks back to her and shallows thickly, seeming to try and subside his anger, and Kie’s not entirely sure she wants him to, this is new, very new.

JJ’s anger had been something that always annoyed her, it got them into a lot of trouble and was never productive, but right now she thinking of it in a completely different context, and she _likes_ it.

‘I’m going to kill them,’ he practically growls, ‘like I’m actually going to murder them.

_Jesus christ._

‘Okay, but can you do it after?’ She doesn’t give him a chance to respond before her lips are on his again. 

JJ pulls back a couple of seconds later, ‘wait, really?’

She nods franticly, and finds his lips once more. 

She doesn’t blame him for being confused, for thinking that she would have wanted to stop after the interruption, maybe if she hadn’t just discovered this new side to her she might’ve wanted to but now there was no stopping her, and really going back to the boys and acting civil will probably been a lot easier after an orgasm or two.

That theory is quickly disproved when they get back and John B asks if they had fun with a smug smirk to which she responds with a short ‘shut the fuck up.’

_four_

She’s serving a customer when JJ casually strolls through the door of The Wreck, flashing her a smile when he see’s her eyes flicker his way.

JJ pulls his cap off his head and Kie is thankful he’s finally learnt to not wear it inside, until he’s running his hands through his hair and then placing it back on, backwards this time. She rolls her eyes without much heat, she guesses it’s better than nothing, and then turns back to the customer and offers them their change. 

The tourist leaves for their table and Kie leans against the counter with her hands gripping the edge watching JJ casually meander over to her. He leans over the counter with his forearms on the surface between them, getting as much into her space as he can without crossing over behind it. Where her dad had made it very clear that was _not_ allowed. 

‘And how can help you?’ She greats in her usual manner for customers, just a little more suggestively. 

JJ purses his lips and looks up at the menu in fake contemplation and then back to her with a lazy smirk. 

‘Well, I was hoping to pick up the hottest thing on the menu,’ his voice laced with innuendo, they’re not talking about food. 

She clicks her tongue, ‘out of your price range I’m afraid.’

‘You sure?’ He looks her up and down, makes her feel like she real is the hottest thing there despite being sweaty and gross from her shift, ‘I heard it comes pretty cheap.’

Kie’s eyebrows shoot up, ‘cheap?’

His mouth drops and eyes bulge realising his mistake, then drops his head a breathes out a long ‘fuck...’

‘I should not have said that,’ he says to the counter top. 

‘You think?’ She plays pissed off but she’s not really, knowing he didn’t mean it that way. Really she likes acting annoyed with JJ, some of the time, when he’s being an adorable dumbass and not a genuine nuisance. 

He looks up at her with an uneasy smile and crooked eyebrow, ‘cheap for me?’ He proposes. 

_ Swing and a miss.  _

‘Try again,’ she pushes off the counter and crosses her arms. 

‘A priceless find, heavily discounted for me because I’m a loveable idiot?’ He tries with a wide toothy grin and wobble of his head. 

_Loveable idiot_. He’s got that part right. She can’t keep the scowl on her face so she relents. 

‘That’ll do I guess.’

She pulls over her docket book from off to the side and clicks on her pen. 

‘You actually going to order something?’

She doesn’t know if JJ is just here to pick her up or if he wants food but she figures she should at least look like she’s trying to do her job. 

‘Yeah, burger and fries. And whatever you want.’

She lets out a small surprised gasp, ‘for me? What’s the occasion?’

Her surprise is only a joke because really her shouts her quite a bit. More than she wishes he would, more than she comfortable with really. Because she knows he doesn’t have a lot of spare money, and it feels like a waste spending it on her when she’s got more than enough. But he almost always turns her down when she offers to pay for them, even when she says they can split it. Saying _I can do it_ , with a firm voice and a set jaw. Part of her wants to give a lecture on toxic masculinity and heteronormative gender roles but really she knows it more than that. Some sort of pride thing, need to prove that he doesn’t need charity, he can take care of himself and he can take care of her, so she lets it slide. 

‘Matty Hammond is having a party,’ is his answer. 

Kie writes down the seafood curry she’s been craving all day onto the docket and hums in acknowledgement of his statement waiting for him to continue. 

‘And John B and Pope are going,’ he tells her back as she places the order to the chefs window. 

She turns and raises and eyebrow, ‘oh?’

She’s knows what he’s getting at now. She makes her way back to him, mirroring his position leaning on the counter and stopping with her face just short of his. 

‘So The Chateau’s gonna be empty.’

‘Empty? Wow,’ she says with far off wonder in her voice. 

JJ chuckles slightly at her theatrics, ‘so I was thinking. We get some take out. Go back there. We can roll a joint, watch some Netflix, maybe _chill_ a little.’

His eyebrows jump suggestively at the last point with a twinkle in his eye.

‘I like the way you think Maybank,’ she says leaning in slowly to capture his lips with hers. Really it sounds like the perfect night. 

Their kiss is broken when a clearing of a throat behind her cuts through the quiet of the restaurant and makes her flinch. She’s pulling back and turning around to see her dad standing in the doorway to the kitchen eyeing them disapprovingly. 

Being caught macking on any guy by her dad was not something she ever wanted to happen, being caught macking JJ, even worse. Her parents were okay with the fact that she was dating JJ, but more okay in the way that Kiara had insisted she was happy and he was who she wanted and they decided to accept that, than overjoyed at the fact that she’s running around, and more, with that Maybank kid from The Cut. And most definitely not okay with it in the way that they want front row seats to look at it, which yes, is probably something she should have thought about before kissing JJ in the middle of the restaurant that her father was currently at but it’s not her fault if sometimes her brain goes to mush when she’s around JJ. 

‘Your shift isn’t over for another 5 minutes Kiara,’ her Dad reminds her. 

She nods, trying to hold back the blush on her cheeks and looks at the floor, ‘okay.’

‘Hey, Mr C,’ JJ pipes up and has Kie’s head snapping back up to look at the older man. 

He stares for probably 10 seconds, then nods his head in acknowledgment of JJ’s greeting and retreats back to the kitchen without another word. 

She turns to JJ who looks almost white. 

‘He is a scary man.’

Kie finds that assessment odd because while her father is not overly fond of JJ she doesn’t think he’d ever do or say anything bad to JJ. And he is someone who has actually been confronted by truely terrifying people in his life, she doesn’t see how Mike Carrera even compares. 

‘He’s a big teddy bear, JJ,’ picking up a cloth and starting to wipe over surfaces under the guise of working. 

He scoffs, ‘to you maybe, you’re his precious, perfect daughter. Me? I’m the guy boning his precious, perfect daughter.’

She’s not sure what she likes least, his description of their relationship, or the fact that’s he’s actually talking about them doing it right now, that is not something that certain people need to know is a thing that happens. 

‘Wanna try that again?’

‘Fine. The guy who is making sweet love to his precious, perfect daughter,’ he says breathless and mocking. 

She doesn’t love that either and not just because it’s gotta be the cringiest way to describe an intimate relationship but also the love part. How making love on some level implies you’re in love and that’s something they still haven’t talked about. She’s in love with him. She knows that. Has been for a while. But every time the words are on the tip of her tongue she pulls back. 

JJ has a lot of love to give. She knows that. Give what you think you lack and all that. And he has never been backwards about coming forward to let his friends know he loves them. But loving and being in love are two different things and she doesn’t know how he’ll handle it. If he feels it or how long it will take him to and she doesn’t want to scare him off. Being in love takes a lot of vulnerability and trust that she knows they have but she’s not sure to what extent. She knows she has to wait for him and she can do that but him saying the word love about them still makes her feel… unsettled.

She pushes all that aside and scrunches up her face at the awful saying, ‘yeah, that’s not any better.’

She shoo’s her boyfriend off to one of the tables to sit and wait for her as she runs out the clock on her shift. When she’s down they still have to wait on their food but at least she can talk to JJ guilt free. 

When they’re leaving Kie lets her dad know she’ll be home tonight and cuts off JJ before he makes a protest about it that would have made it abundantly clear why he was so disappointed why she wouldn’t be staying all night. Her parents had never been super keen on her staying at The Chateau before the JJ thing, and after, well, it took her weeks to convince them that when she stayed she still had her designated bed, where she slept alone. Look, what they didn’t know can’t hurt them and Kie did not think it would be productive for anyone if the Carrera’s knew that these days sleepovers at her friends house involved a lot more of getting railed by JJ than sleep. 

Pope and John B have already left when they get back to The Chateau, after a on the back of JJ’s bike, yet another thing her parents don’t approve of. Kie flops down on her stomach on the pull out couch, dragging the old laptop with her and connecting to her phone’s hotspot.

JJ sit’s next to her and starts eating as she starts scrolling through Netflix options, he doesn’t offer much insight other than _no, that’s shit,_ when she suggests something but he does feed her fries intermittently so she guesses he does have his uses.

They settle on rewatching Arrested Development and move up to rest against the top of the bed to eat looking down at the laptop at the other end. When he’s finishes JJ fishes his weed and papers out of his backpack and lays down and gets to work rolling them a joint, let’s Kie wiggle in between his arms as he does to lay on his chest.

She give’s him a lecture about the dangers of smoking in bed when he lights up, but only halfheartedly because she really doesn’t feel like moving right now. They watch Lucille Bluth exhibit legend behaviour and silently pass the joint back and forth , or more JJ brings his hand down to place it in her mouth and then she gently taps him when she’s done taking a drag.

He drops the roach into an empty beer bottle next to the bed when they’re done and pulls her close. Kie nuzzles into JJ’s chest, the light buzz making her feel as light as air, and JJ feel as soft as cotton candy. She really couldn’t ask for more than a night like this, something simple, just the two of them in each others company, no distractions, no interruptions, no one else around.

She can sense his eyes on her, burning a hole in the top of her head as his hands gently rub against her skin where they’re wrapped around her middle. She tilts her head up from where it rests on his shoulder to look at him. JJ is looking back at her with a look on his face that the doesn’t think she’s seen before, his face drops to something different after a second, like he’s trying to cover it up but his eyes are still soft, smile still fond.

‘What?’ She asks him, a smile playing on her lips.

‘What?’ He scrunches his face slightly in confusion.

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

JJ shakes his head slightly, ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Squinting her eyes at him suspiciously for a minute Kie waits for him to break and when he doesn’t she pushes up a little to give him a small kiss.

His hand comes to stoke her hair as she does, tangles into her curls when she pulls away. He starts chewing on his lip, looking at her like that again, and holds his hand against her head so she doesn’t move far.

‘Kie, I-‘ he breathes out and then stops.

She can see him swallow hard and then clamp his mouth shut. She’s about to question him when he surges forward, hard and rough connecting their lips and pushing close against her.

_Was he about to say_ \- she doesn’t get a chance to finish her thought as JJ grips her and rolls them over, settling between her legs and she stops caring about what he was going to say, or the fact the this is most defiantly an avoidance technique so he doesn’t have to talk about something emotional.

JJ’s tongue finds its way into her mouth and it feels like his hands are everywhere, like he’s desperate to touch her all of her, it sets her skin alight. Kie traces her hand up his shirt, fingertips playing with the hard expanse of his body.

She lets out a breathy moan as he rolls his hips into her, he’s already hard and it drags against her perfectly through the thin material of her linen pants. Her legs come up to wrap around him and she pushes the heels of her feet into his ass, encouraging him to do it again.

He does do it again, and again and her breaths turn heavy against his lips as he falls into a steady rhythm against her. She’s never gotten off from dry humping before but she thinking maybe she can change that tonight, until he stills suddenly and Kie feel so lost without the movement.

She’s about to lodge a formal complaint when she hears the sound of muffled chatter and footsteps coming up the porch stairs that had made him stop. Once again she’s slightly amazed by his awareness of external factors while she’s been to blissed out to register anything other than his touch. It hits her a second later why that is, that he’s spent his whole life being on edge, one eye open, listening for danger no matter what he’s doing. 

Her heart drops at the thought and she brings a hand up to stroke the side of his face to somehow let him know it’s okay, that she’s there for him, even if he isn’t thinking about that right now, she hopes somehow he just knows what she trying to do.

‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,’ he mutters.

_Right_ , she snaps her self back to the problem of the present.

JJ pushes away from her, rest on his forearms that rest above her head. His breathing is laboured, his face flushed, ‘this is getting ridiculous.’

Kie pushes up a bit to give him a quick kiss, hopefully kiss away his frown, then gives his shoulder a light shove to move him off her. There’s no way she’s letting the boys walk in on them like this. He sighs and rolls off to the side, laying back down next to her, then pushes his hand into his pants trying his best to rearrange himself before they walk in the room. 

John B and Pope are fling open the screen door and unceremoniously stumble inside, clearly forgetting about the whole knocking rule - or maybe just not caring. 

‘Some asshole called the cops,’ John B announces in way of greeting then heads to the fridge to pull out a beer while Pope falls into the arms chair next to them. 

Uncapping the bottle John B makes himself comfortable laying on the other side of Kie on the pull out, ‘what are we watching?’

‘Arrested Development,’ Kie mumbles. 

‘Oh nice,’ Pope pipes up and shifts in the chair so he can see the screen better and they settle into silence as the show plays on the small laptop at the end of the bed.

Kie doesn’t think much of it a few minutes later when JJ gets up and wanders to the bathroom, until he takes a little longer than she expects and comes out looking a little red in the face, a small pleased smile on his face and she realises, _this bastard just jerked off_. She’d ridicule him for being gross if she wasn’t just a little bit jealous, because she’s still so hard up and there’s no way she’s disappearing to the bathroom to get herself off nor is she dragging away JJ to do it for her because she does not want to deal with the endless mocking that would go along with it. 

JJ pulls two beers out of the fridge, uncapping them and handing one off to her when he comes back. She moves so she’s sitting up, back against the top of the couch, and JJ settles in next to her, throwing an arm over her shoulders. 

‘That’s so unfair you know,’ Kie turns her head and whispers to him. 

JJ looks at her with his brows scrunched together trying to figure out her meaning for a second then cracks a smirk when he realises. He takes a lazy sip of his beer and places it on the bedside table next to them. 

‘I can help you out if you need it,’ he whispers and then his hand comes to jokingly rub over the front of her pants. 

Kie shrieks and kicks him away with a laugh, which he reciprocates. 

‘Guys we’re right here,’ John B says with a sigh, ‘can’t you get a room or something?’

‘We had a room man,’ JJ’s voice instantly gone from playfull to harsh, ‘in fact we had a whole house.’

John B just shrugs, not seeming to take JJ’s tone seriously, ‘start paying bills JJ and I might give a fuck.’

A bottle cap bounces of JB’s head and they both erupt in laughter. 

All the boys eventually fall asleep in their places. Kie’s remembers right before nodding off to text her parents that she won’t be coming home and then throws her phone away, they know where she is, she doesn’t really care what they think about it. She pushes her face further into JJ’s chest and lets sleep take her. 

_\+ one_

The soft calling of her name wakes Kie from her sleep. She noticed she’s still on the pull out couch in The Chateau. John B still on one side of her letting out soft snores, JJ’s no longer laying on her other side, leaving her to roll right to the edge in her sleep, instead he’s crouching down next to her.

Kie tries to blink the sleep from her eyes as they adjust to the darkness of the room.

‘J, what are you-‘

JJ brings a finger to his lips and shushes her then tilts his head to the side, ‘come on.’

She lazily sits up and scrunches up her face at her boyfriend.

‘Why? Where?’

He doesn’t answer only grabs her hands in his and stands, when she doesn’t follow he tugs her up. Stumbling to her feet she follows as he walks backwards pulling her along after him. He pauses when they pass a chair and he lets go of her to pick up his sweater and hand it to her.

She pulls it on with a sigh, whatever he’s up to she’s clearly not getting out of it, she might as well be warm. He opens the screen door, trying and failing to stop if from creaking, a quick look to Pope and John B let them know it hadn’t disturbed their sleep. JJ gestures for her to exit the door and she reluctantly obliges.

The cool night air hits her and she’s thankful that JJ gave her the sweatshirt, she reaches for his hand to pull him close and help warm her up. She feels confident enough to speak without being silenced now they’re outside.

‘Okay, so what are we doing?’

‘Well,’ JJ beams down at her, he is way to peppy for - what? 3am? She’s pretty sure there’s an actual skip in his step, ‘Clearly if we want to spend some time together we’re going to have to get a little creative.’

‘At three am?’

She notices they are heading towards the dock.

‘Yes, at three am, because I’m pretty sure they have to actually be unconscious for their weird spidey sense for when we’re alone to not go off.’

They walk down the dock and JJ jumps into the pouge and then holds out a hand to help her in after him. He unties the boat from the dock and pushes them off before sitting down and starting up the boat starting to steer them away.

Kie comes and sits down on JJ’s lap, dipping under one of his arms so she trapped between them where they rest on the steering wheel. She wraps her arms around his neck to stabilise herself and leans her head against his chest, closing her eyes and listening to the steady drum of his heart.

JJ strokes her hair, ‘you can go back to sleep if you want,’ his hand leaves her hair and wraps around her waist, ‘I got you.’

His words settle in her heart and feeling of his lips on the top of her head is the last thing she registers before it all fades out.

The gentle rocking of the boat and her legs sticking to the vinyl of the seat when she tries to move is what wakes her this time. She sits up slightly and finds that at some point JJ had laid her down on the bench seat at the back of the boat. She notices JJ standing below her in the water, casually leaning against the side of the boat. How long had he been just standing there? Was he watching her sleep? She pulls the sleeve of JJ’s sweater over her hand and and runs it over her mouth trying to remove any possible traces of drool.

JJ lets out a breath of a laugh and smirks then expends a hand out to her, she takes it and lets him help her jump out of the boat into a few inches of water. They walk up the beach and Kie looks around trying to figure out where they are, all she can tell in the low light of the moon is that they are on some secluded beach, weather it’s another island or just an unpopulated part of Kildare, she’s not really sure.

There’s light glowing from the tree line and as they walk up the beach toward it, they reach it and she discovers the source. A couple of battery powered lanterns are scattered in the sand around a collection of blankets and pillows, along with a couple of bags and a cooler off to the side. _How did she not notice any of this stuff on the boat?_

She turns to JJ, he’s biting his lip nervously, like he’s worried she won’t like it. It reminds her of the picnic they had all those weeks ago. Kie pushes up on her toes and cups his jaw in her hands, leaving a couple soft slow kisses on his lips.

‘This is so sweet J,’ she whispers against his lips.

He breaks out a smile and kisses her again.

‘Can I go back to sleep now?’ She asks with her face pushed into his chest, she feels him shake against him as he laughs but then he pulls her down onto the blanket, letting her curl into his side and bringing another blanket up to cover them.

Laying her head down on his chest Kie tries to fall into sleep once again, the fluttering in her stomach makes it impossible. She almost feels giddy, thinking of the thought and actual planning JJ would of had to put into this.

‘You’re really just a just a romantic at heart aren’t you, Maybank?’

‘Don’t go telling anyone,’ he adjusts his grip around her and pulls her closer into him, ‘I’ve got a reputation to uphold.’

‘Oh, I’m telling everyone,’ she teases.

His breathing steady and she’s pretty sure he’s fallen asleep when he suddenly cuts thought the silence, making her flinch slightly.

His words are loud and quick as if he’s trying to force them out,‘Kie, I think-‘ he cuts himself off before he finishes.

Kie props her chin up on his chest so she can look at him, let him know she’s there and listening and he can tell her anything. He almost looks like he’s going to throw up, she hopes to god that’s not what he’s trying to tell her. She lets her fingers trace over his skin hoping her touch will give him some reassurance.

He licks his lips before starting again, ‘I love you.’

Warmth spreads though her body, and her lips pull to the side in a large smile, faltering only when she sees the tension in his jaw. Her finger comes up and traces the hard line, she knows how hard saying that would have been for him, how much he hates being vulnerable, putting his emotions on the line.

He softens under her touch and she pushes up to kiss him, when she pulls back she lets her lips sit there, move against his as she speaks.

‘I love you too.’

The breath he lets out seems to be one of relief, like he’d been holding it waiting for her response.

‘Yeah?’ She can feel his body relax under her.

‘Yeah.’

Kie nuzzles into his neck this time, briefly pressing a kiss to his skin before letting the soft sound of the waves crashing into the shore lull her to sleep.

* * *

It takes her a minute to remember where she is when she wakes up, the sun beating down on them. She sits up and tries to stretch out her back, sleeping on sand is a truly uncomfortable experience, even when softened but the thick wooden blanket underneath them. In the daylight she takes the opportunity to properly take in the beach they were on, it’s pretty much the definition of a deserted island paradise, with white sand and clear blue water. She has no idea how JJ knows about this place but it doesn’t really surprise her, that boy is a local through and through and he has the knowledge to go with it.

She looks over her shoulder to where JJ is still asleep, he always seems so peaceful, so soft in his sleep. He must of taken his shirt off during the night, his bare chest now on full display, it’s temping. Very tempting.

Reaching forward she gently runs her finger over his face, tracing over the curve of his nose and then strumming at his bottom lip. He lets out a small groan as he rouses from his sleep

‘Hey, J.’

His eyes flutter open and he hums in response.

‘Did you bring any condoms?’

His mouth falls into lazy smirk and he blinks at her a couple times.

‘What do you take me for? Some sex-obsessed deviant?’

Kie giggles and then makes a move to straddle his waist, pleased when she’s greeted by his morning wood.

‘Yes, exactly that,’ his hands find her hips, fingers running over the skin above the waistband of her pants, ‘part of the reason why I love you.’

JJ sighs, ‘say that again.’

She leans down, traces her lips along his, ‘you’re a sex-obsessed deviant,’ she teases, knowing full well that’s not the part he meant.

His hands tighten on her hip and she pulls away only to run her fingers through his hair, moving it off his face.

She smiles down at him, ‘I love you.’

He grins and then without warning flips them over, ‘yeah you do.’

* * *

‘You better not just dump that somewhere on the beach,’ she tells him when he’s tying off the condom.

‘Relax, mother nature.’

He reaches into one of the bags and pulls out a plastic grocery bag and tosses the used rubber in it. She contemplates telling him how bad those are for the environment but she doesn’t have it in her, her energy completely spent, and she figures it’s better than their rubbish being abandoned on the beach so she lets it slide.

He turns back to her, ‘can’t have the turtles choking on my jizz.’

His thumb comes up to run gently along her bottom lip, ‘that’s your job.’

She gasps at him and whacks his hand away, ‘you’re disgusting.’

‘Yeah,’ he flops down onto his back with a wide grin, ‘but you love me.’

_He’s going to have fun throwing that at her isn’t he?_

‘Unfortunately.’

Kie turns onto her side and props herself on her elbow.

‘So, any plans for the day?’

JJ looks up at the sky and contemplates, ‘I did bring a lot of condoms.’

‘Oh wow, you and your hand will have a lot of fun with that won’t you?’

He turns his head to the side to look at her, a twinkle in his eye.

‘I might have a couple of other ideas.’

Turns out he had the good sense to pack food and not just beer so they sit on the sand and have breakfast. After he’s pulling out some snorkels and masks and a yellow bikini that has been laying around The Chateau for the last two years since she grew out of it. He swears up and down that he didn’t know but the way his eyes rake up and down her in tiny material make her think otherwise.

They explore the reef, even see a couple of turtles, for most of the morning before heading back to shore. JJ pulls out a deck of cards and suggests strip poker, she cocks an eyebrows and teases, ‘if you want me to strip, J, you just have to ask.’

Turns out beating JJ at snap is insanely easy when she’s topless.

When they’re sitting on the sand, just out of reach of the waves, sipping beer in silenc JJ confesses out of nowhere how hard it was to tell her he loved, that he wanted her to know but his whole life when people said it it’s nothing more than a lie. Something they just say, before they leave, or hit you, or tell you they wished you never existed.

‘That’s okay, you don’t have to say it if it doesn’t feel right,’ she reassures him, ‘I know you feel it and that’s all the matters. I can say it enough for the both of us.’

He nods slowly with a half smile and it makes her think he doesn’t quite believe her.

‘Besides, words can mean anything, the best way to let someone know you love them is by showing them.’

He throws her a suggestive smirk and a raised eyebrow, and the moments almost gone when she rolls her eye at him, until he’s grabbing her hand and interlacing their fingers. 

It feels a lot like _I love you._

They get back to The Chateau just on sunset and Pope and John B are waiting for them the second they walk in the door.

‘Where the hell have you guys been?’ Pope yells at them, ‘You can’t answer a phone call?’

‘Sorry, man. Didn’t have reception,’ JJ shrugs casually, then assess their friends worried looks, ‘we probably should have left a note.’

‘You think? We thought you guys were kidnapped or murdered or something.’

‘Oh yeah, and they just happened to take the pouge as well?’ JJ jokes, tosses the keys over to John B who catches them and then chucks them onto the table next to him.

‘Well, I don’t know JJ, if they're murders I don’t think they would be above theft.’

‘Fair point,’ JJ concedes, making his way over to the pull out.

‘Where were you guys anyway?’ John B asks, considerably less wound up than Pope.

JJ flops down on the bed and brings his hands up behind his head to rest on them, ‘bonetown, my friend.’

Kie makes retching sound at the expression and starts heading towards the hall.

‘I’m going to take a shower,’ she hadn’t showered since yesterday morning, that and the salt water and sweat is making her feel gross.

‘Ooo,’ JJ says, his interest peaked and starting to sit up.

‘That wasn’t an invitation, Mr _Bonetown.’_

JJ flops back into the mattress with a pout and she sees John B lay down next to him before she disappears down the hall, their voices following her.

‘JJ, tell me about bonetown,’ he says with the same far off bewonderment of a child asking for a bedtime story.

‘Well, big guy,’ JJ says, clearly taking on the roll of the dad in this little skit, ‘it's this magical place where hot girls called Kiara let you do all sorts of stuff to them.’

‘Wow, I wanna go to bonetown.’

There’s the sound of skin hitting skin and John B lets out a cry in pain, Pope a deep laugh. 

‘Not a chance in hell man,’ JJ’s voice a long way harder now.

‘I didn’t mean with her!’ John B protests.

JJ huffs, ‘yeah, sure you didn’t’

Kie rolls her eyes but still laughs at their antics, then turns on the water to drown them out.

For all she complaints about them, she knows life would be pretty boring without her boys.

**Author's Note:**

> Whoop there it is.  
> hmu on my socials  
> [Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/shielclmaiden/)(shielclmaiden)  
> [Tumblr](https://hvitstark.tumblr.com/) (hvitstark)


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